Pedestrian protecting device

ABSTRACT

A pedestrian protecting device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a right air bag device, a left air bag device, G sensors (collision position detector), a vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detector), a steering angle sensor (steering angle detector), and an ECU (controller) configured to control operations of the air bags. The air bags and include respective tip end portions which vertically overlap each other at a middle portion of the vehicle when the air bags and are deployed. The ECU estimates a movement direction of a pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle. Based on a result of this estimation, the ECU determines an operation target from the air bag devices and an operation timing of the operation target. Based on a result of this determination, the ECU controls operations of the air bag devices.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a pedestrian protecting deviceconfigured to protect a pedestrian who has collided with a vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

A vehicle equipped with a pedestrian protecting device configured toprotect a pedestrian when the vehicle has collided with the pedestrianis being developed in recent years. Known as this type of pedestrianprotecting device is, for example, a device configured to expand anddeploy (hereinafter simply referred to as “deploy”) a pair of right andleft air bags from a rear end portion of a hood and absorb an impactreceived by the pedestrian (PTL 1). Further, PTL 2 proposes a pedestrianprotecting device configured to: determine whether a vehicle hascollided with a pedestrian or an object; when it is determined that thevehicle has collided with the pedestrian, deploy an air bag; and when itis determined that the vehicle has collided with the object, prohibitthe deployment of the air bag to secure the field of view of a driver.According to this pedestrian protecting device, unnecessary deploymentof the air bag can be avoided, and this is effective for securingtraveling safety of the vehicle.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2006-44289

i. PTL 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No.2015-217929

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

A position at which the air bag receives the pedestrian and a directionin which the air bag receives the pedestrian differ depending on apedestrian collision position of the vehicle. Therefore, it may bedesirable that when the pedestrian collides with the vehicle, the airbag be appropriately deployed based on situations, such as thepedestrian collision position. However, such configuration is notdisclosed in any of PTLs 1 and 2.

The present invention was made under the above circumstances, and anobject of the present invention is to provide a technology in which apedestrian protecting device can more appropriately deploy an air bagdepending on a collision situation of a pedestrian with a vehicle.

Solution to Problem

To solve the above problems, the present invention is a pedestrianprotecting device mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle including awindshield and a hood, the hood being located in front of the windshieldand covering an engine, the pedestrian protecting device including: aright air bag device including a right air bag configured to be deployedat a region spreading from a rear end portion of the hood to thewindshield and located mainly at a right side of the vehicle; a left airbag device including a left air bag configured to be deployed at aregion spreading from the rear end portion of the hood to the windshieldand located mainly at a left side of the vehicle; a collision positiondetector configured to detect a pedestrian collision position of thevehicle in a vehicle width direction; a vehicle speed detectorconfigured to detect a vehicle speed of the vehicle; a steering angledetector configured to detect a steering angle and steering direction ofa steering wheel of the vehicle; and a controller configured to controloperations of the air bags, wherein: based on detection results of thedetectors, the controller estimates a movement direction of a pedestrianwho has collided with the vehicle; based on a result of this estimation,the controller determines an operation target from the right air bagdevice and the left air bag device and an operation timing of theoperation target; and based on a result of this determination, thecontroller controls operations of the air bags.

According to this configuration in which: the movement direction of thepedestrian who has collided with the vehicle is estimated; and based onthe result of this estimation, the operation target and the operationtiming are determined, the air bag can be more appropriately deployed inaccordance with a collision state of the pedestrian with the vehicle.

It is preferable that: in the above pedestrian protecting device, whenthe vehicle speed falls within a predetermined high speed range, thecontroller determine the operation target and the operation timing basedon the vehicle speed; and when the vehicle speed falls within apredetermined low speed range, the controller determine the operationtarget and the operation timing based on the steering angle and steeringdirection of the steering wheel.

To be specific, when the vehicle speed is high, the movement directionof the pedestrian after the collision tends to depend on the vehiclespeed. When the vehicle speed is low, the movement direction of thepedestrian after the collision tends to depend on the steering angle andsteering direction of the steering wheel. Therefore, according to theabove configuration, the movement direction of the pedestrian after thecollision can be accurately estimated, and the right and left air bagdevices can be more appropriately operated.

As a more specific configuration, the pedestrian protecting device isconfigured such that: the right and left air bags include respective tipend portions which vertically overlap each other at a middle portion ofthe vehicle in the vehicle width direction when the right and left airbags are deployed; when the controller estimates that the pedestrian whohas collided with the vehicle moves toward the middle portion of thevehicle from a position located at a left side of the middle portion ofthe vehicle in the vehicle width direction, the controller determinesboth the right and left air bag devices as the operation targets andalso determines the operation timings of the air bag devices such that adeployment of the right air bag is completed before a deployment of theleft air bag is completed; and when the controller estimates that thepedestrian moves toward the middle portion of the vehicle from aposition located at a right side of the middle portion of the vehicle,the controller determines both the right and left air bag devices as theoperation targets and also determines the operation timings of the airbag devices such that the deployment of the left air bag is completedbefore the deployment of the right air bag is completed.

According to this configuration, a gap can be prevented from beingformed between the right and left air bags, and thus, pedestrian impactabsorption performance can be improved. Especially, according to thisconfiguration, the air bag located at a downstream side in the movementdirection of the pedestrian out of the right and left air bags isdeployed before the air bag located at an upstream side is deployed, tobe specific, the air bag located closer to the pedestrian collisionposition always overlaps an upper side of the air bag located fartherfrom the pedestrian collision position. Therefore, the air bag locatedat an upper side when receiving the pedestrian can be prevented frombeing lifted up. On this account, the pedestrian can be more surelyprevented from getting into a gap between the right and left air bags,and the air bags can appropriately receive the pedestrian.

The above pedestrian protecting device may be configured such that: thecontroller estimates a vehicle width direction position at which thevehicle is likely to receive the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle; and when the estimated position is located at a front passengerseat side, the controller determines as the operation target only theair bag device located at the front passenger seat side out of the rightand left air bag devices.

According to this configuration, the air bag which is located at thedriver's seat side and does not practically achieve its function isprevented from being deployed, and with this, the field of view of thedriver can be secured.

It is preferable that: in the above pedestrian protecting device, thevehicle include an on-vehicle camera configured to take an image of ascene located in front of the vehicle; and the controller determine theoperation target and the operation timing based on the detection resultsof the detectors and the image of the pedestrian taken by the on-vehiclecamera.

According to this configuration, the movement direction of thepedestrian after the collision can be more accurately estimated.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As explained above, according to the pedestrian protecting device of thepresent invention, the air bag can be more appropriately deployed inaccordance with the collision state of the pedestrian with the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a vehicle (automobile) equipped with apedestrian protecting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vehicle (a sectional view taken alongline II-II of FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vehicle when air bag devices and pop-upactuators are operated.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the vehicle (a sectional view taken alongline IV-IV of FIG. 3).

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic sectional views of the vehicle forexplaining a process of deployments of air bags when a right air bagdevice is operated first. FIG. 5A shows that the air bags are deploying,and FIG. 5B shows that the deployments of the air bags are completed.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic sectional views of the vehicle forexplaining a process of the deployments of the air bags when a left airbag device is operated first. FIG. 6A shows that the air bags aredeploying, and FIG. 6B shows that the deployments of the air bags arecompleted.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of the vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing one example of control of the pop-upactuators and a pedestrian air bag device.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing one example of the control of the pop-upactuators and the pedestrian air bag device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a position at which a pedestrian isreceived.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will beexplained in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Entire Configuration

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a vehicle 1 equipped with a pedestrianprotecting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is asectional view of the vehicle 1 (a sectional view taken along line II-IIof FIG. 1). The vehicle 1 is a right-hand drive automobile including adriver's seat at a right side and a front passenger seat at a left side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 1 includes: a hood 4 (also calleda hood panel) covering an engine room 2 located at a front portion ofthe vehicle 1; a bumper face 3 provided in front of the engine room 2; awindshield 6 covering a vehicle room 7 located behind the engine room 2;and a cowl portion 10 located in front of the windshield 6.

The hood 4 is provided at the front portion of the vehicle 1. The hood 4is constituted by one or a plurality of panels made of an aluminum alloyand is configured to be relatively easily deformable with respect to acollision from outside. The hood 4 is supported by a vehicle body atboth right and left end positions of a rear end portion 4 a throughhinge mechanisms 5 (see FIG. 4) so as to be openable and closable.Normally, the hinge mechanisms 5 couple the rear end portion 4 a and thevehicle body such that the hood 4 opens and closes at a front side. Onthe other hand, when below-described pop-up actuators 28 are operated bycollision with a pedestrian, the hinge mechanisms 5 receive push-upforce, applied by the pop-up actuators 28 from below, to deform as shownin FIG. 4, and thus, allows flip-up (pop-up) of the rear end portion 4 aof the hood 4. With this configuration, in the collision with thepedestrian, the deformation of the hood 4 is promoted by the formationof an adequate space under the hood 4, and thus, impact applied to thepedestrian is eased.

Both right and left ends of the windshield 6 are supported by A-pillars8 each of which is a part of the vehicle body. A front end portion ofthe windshield 6 is supported by the vehicle body through a sealingmember and a cowl panel 11.

The cowl portion 10 is constituted by the cowl panel 11 and a cowl grill12 arranged at an upper side of the cowl panel 11. A wiper device 14 isprovided at the cowl portion 10.

The wiper device 14 includes a right wiper 14R, a left wiper 14L, and adrive mechanism. The right wiper 14R is arranged at the driver's seatside and mainly wipes a region spreading from a middle portion of thewindshield 6 to a right side. The left wiper 14L is arranged at thefront passenger seat side and mainly wipes a region spreading from themiddle portion of the windshield 6 to a left side. The drive mechanismis arranged under the cowl grill 12.

Although not shown in detail, the drive mechanism includes a pair ofpivots, an electric motor 18, and a crank mechanism. The pair of pivotsare rotatably supported by the cowl grill 12. The crank mechanismtransmits rotational driving force of the electric motor 18 to each ofthe pivots while converting the rotational driving force into arepetitive motion of forward rotation and reverse rotation of the pivot.The right wiper 14R is coupled to one of the pivots, and the left wiper14L is coupled to the other pivot. With this, the wipers 14R and 14Lswing (turn) in the same direction in sync with each other.

Each of the wipers 14R and 14L includes: a wiper arm 15 having a baseend portion fixed to the pivot; and a wiper blade 16 coupled to a tipend portion of the wiper arm 15. A turning fulcrum of the right wiper14R, i.e., the base end portion (pivot) of the wiper arm 15 is locatednear a vehicle width direction right end portion, and a turning fulcrumof the left wiper 14L is located at a vehicle width direction middleportion. When the wiper device 14 is not in use, the wipers 14R and 14Lare arranged at predetermined storage positions (positions shown in FIG.1), i.e., the wiper blade 16 of the right wiper 14R is located at thevehicle width direction middle portion along a boundary line between thewindshield 6 and the cowl grill 12, and the wiper blade 16 of the leftwiper 14L is located at a left side of the wiper blade 16 of the rightwiper 14R in line with the wiper blade 16 of the right wiper 14R alongthe boundary line.

As shown in FIG. 2, level difference portions 13 are formed atrespective portions of the cowl grill 12 which portions correspond torespective movable regions of the wipers 14R and 14L (wiper arms 15).Rear sides of the level difference portions 13 are located lower thanfront sides of the level difference portions 13. The right and leftwipers 14R and 14L are provided at the respective level differenceportions 13.

A pedestrian air bag device 20 is provided between the rear end portion4 a of the hood 4 and the cowl portion 10. The pedestrian air bag device20 includes a right air bag device 20R and a left air bag device 20L.The right air bag device 20R is fixed to a position on a rear surface ofa region, located at a right side of the vehicle width direction middleportion, of the rear end portion 4 a of the hood 4, the position beingopposed to the base end portion of the wiper arm 15 of the right wiper14R as shown in FIG. 1. The left air bag device 20L is arranged at aposition on a rear surface of a region, located at a left side of thevehicle width direction middle portion, of the rear end portion 4 a ofthe hood 4, and the position of the left air bag device 20L and theposition of the right air bag device 20R are bilaterally symmetrical.

Each of the air bag devices 20R and 20L includes: an air bag 22 (22R,22L); a casing 21 accommodating the air bag 22 (22R, 22L) in a foldedstate; and an inflator (not shown) configured to supply gas fordeployment (expansion) to the air bag 22 (22R, 22L).

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vehicle 1 when the air bag devices 20R and20L and the pop-up actuators 28 are operated. FIG. 4 is a sectional viewof the vehicle 1 (a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the air bag 22R (called a right air bag 22R) of theright air bag device 20R is deployed mainly in a region spreading fromthe vehicle width direction middle portion to a right side (driver'sseat side), and the air bag 22L (called a left air bag 22L) of the leftair bag device 20L is deployed mainly in a region spreading from thevehicle width direction middle portion to a left side (front passengerseat side). With this, the air bags can widely cover a rear side of thehood 4 all over in a vehicle width direction.

More specifically, the right air bag 22R has an L shape including: anair bag base portion 24 a extending in the vehicle width direction alongthe cowl portion 10; and an air bag side portion 24 b extending upwardfrom a right end of the air bag base portion 24 a along the rightA-pillar 8. The left air bag 22L and the right air bag 22R arebilaterally symmetrical in shape in a plan view, i.e., the left air bag22L has an inverted L shape including: an air bag base portion 24 aextending in the vehicle width direction along the cowl portion 10; andan air bag side portion 24 b extending upward from a left end of the airbag base portion 24 a along the left A-pillar 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the air bag base portions 24 a of the air bags 22Rand 22L are formed so as to vertically overlap each other at the vehiclewidth direction middle portion of the windshield 6 and the vehicle widthdirection middle portion of the cowl portion 10 while the air bag baseportions 24 a maintain a constant thickness of as a whole.

As shown in FIG. 5A, a tip end portion (left end portion) 26 of the airbag base portion 24 a of the right air bag 22R has a tapered shape thatgradually decreases in thickness from a right side toward a left side,specifically, that gradually decreases in thickness uniformly withrespect to a center line O extending through a thickness directioncenter. As shown in FIG. 6A, a tip end portion (right end portion) 26 ofthe air bag base portion 24 a of the left air bag 22L and the tip endportion (left end portion) 26 of the air bag base portion 24 a of theright air bag 22R are bilaterally symmetrical, and the tip end portion(right end portion) 26 of the air bag base portion 24 a of the left airbag 22L has the same tapered shape as the tip end portion 26 of theright air bag 22R. With this configuration, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B,6A, and 6B, even when the tip end portion 26 of any of the right andleft air bags 22R and 22L is located at an upper side, the tip endportions 26 of the air bags 22R and 22L overlap each other at thevehicle width direction middle portion without problems.

Each of the air bags 22R and 22L is formed such that when the air bag isdeployed, a portion of the air bag other than the tip end portion 26 hasa substantially constant thickness. The tip end portions 26 of the airbag base portions 24 a are formed such that a thickness of theoverlapping tip end portions 26 is substantially equal to the thicknessof the other portion (portion of the air bag other than the tip endportion 26). With this, the deployed air bags 22R and 22L have asubstantially constant thickness as a whole.

The pop-up actuators 28 configured to perform the pop-up of the hood 4are provided in the engine room 2 in front of the respective air bagdevices 20R and 20L. Each of the pop-up actuators 28 includes: anactuator main body portion 29 a in which an inflator (not shown) isincorporated; and a rod 29 b supported by the actuator main body portion29 a so as to be projectable upward. When below-described G sensors 30a-30 d detect collision with the pedestrian, the inflator operates, andas shown in FIG. 4, the rod 29 b projects from the actuator main bodyportion 29 a to perform the pop-up of the hood 4. Although not shown inFIGS. 2 and 4, a reinforced portion is provided at the rear surface ofthe hood 4, and the rod 29 b pushes up the hood 4 through the reinforcedportion from below.

The air bag devices 20R and 20L and the pop-up actuator 28 operate whenthe vehicle 1 collides with the pedestrian. The collision is detected bythe four G sensors 30 a-30 d (corresponding to a collision positiondetector of the present invention) arranged at a rear side of the bumperface 3. Each of the G sensors 30 a-30 d detects acceleration ordeceleration generated in a front-rear direction of the vehicle 1 by theapplication of a collision load and outputs a detection signal to abelow-described ECU 40. The G sensors 30 a-30 d are attached to abracket arranged close to a rear side of the bumper face 3 and extendingin the vehicle width direction. With this, even when the vehicle 1 andthe pedestrian collide with each other at a position between theadjacent sensors, a pedestrian collision position can be accuratelydetected by acceleration or deceleration generated at the bracket.

Control System

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of the vehicle 1.This block diagram shows portions of the control system of the vehicle 1which portions mainly control operations of the pedestrian air bagdevice 20 (the right air bag device 20R and the left air bag 22L) andthe pop-up actuators 28.

The vehicle 1 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 40 configured tointegrally control the vehicle 1. As is well known, the ECU 40 isconstituted by a microprocessor including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc. TheECU 40 corresponds to a controller of the present invention.

Various information pieces are input to the ECU 40 from a plurality ofsensors provided at the vehicle. The following will explain mattersnecessary to explain the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, thevehicle 1 is provided with: a vehicle speed sensor 32 (corresponding toa vehicle speed detector of the present invention) configured to detectthe speed of the vehicle 1; a steering angle sensor 34 (corresponding toa steering angle detector of the present invention) configured to detecta steering angle and steering direction of a steering wheel (not shown);and the above-described G sensors 30 a-30 d. The signals from thesensors 30 a-30 d, 32, and 34 are input to the ECU 40.

The ECU 40 is electrically connected to the pop-up actuators 28 and theair bag devices 20R and 20L and outputs drive control signals to thepop-up actuators 28 and the air bag devices 20R and 20L. To be specific,the ECU 40 controls the operations of the pop-up actuators 28 and theair bag devices 20R and 20L based on the input signals from the sensors30 a-30 d, 32, and 34 and performs processing, such as variouscalculations and determinations, associated with the control of theabove operations. Especially when the vehicle 1 has collided with thepedestrian, as described below, the ECU 40 estimates based onparameters, such as the collision position, a movement direction of thepedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1 and determines anoperation target from the right and left air bag devices 20R and 20L andan operation timing of the operation target. Based on these results, theECU 40 controls the operations of the air bag devices 20R and 20L.

Next, the control of the pop-up actuators 28 and the air bag devices 20Rand 20L by the ECU 40 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.Each of FIGS. 8 and 9 is a flow chart showing one example of the controlof the pop-up actuators 28 and the pedestrian air bag device 20 (20R and20L).

When the flow chart starts, the ECU 40 receives the signals form thesensors 30 a-30 d, 32, and 34 and determines whether or not the vehicle1 has collided with the pedestrian (Step S1). To be precise, whether thevehicle 1 has collided with the pedestrian or an object is unknown.However, for convenience sake, this example will explain a case wherethe pedestrian collides with the vehicle 1.

When it is determined that the vehicle 1 has collided with thepedestrian (Yes in Step S1), the ECU 40 determines based on the inputsignals from the G sensors 30 a-30 d whether or not the pedestriancollision position is located at the driver's seat side, to be specific,whether or not the collision position is located at a right side of themiddle portion of the vehicle 1 (bumper face 3) in the vehicle widthdirection (Step S3). If Yes in Step S3, the ECU 40 determines based onthe input signal from the vehicle speed sensor 32 whether or not thevehicle speed is higher than a predetermined threshold VR (Step S5).

When it is determined that the vehicle speed is higher than thethreshold VR, the ECU 40 operates the pop-up actuators 28 and the airbag devices 20R and 20L in this order (Steps S7 and S9). With this, thepop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and the right and left air bags 22Rand 22L are simultaneously deployed at a timing at which the pop-up isstarted. Thus, the flow chart ends.

In contrast, if No in Step S5, the ECU 40 determines based on the inputsignal from the steering angle sensor 34 whether or not the steeringdirection is a direction toward the front passenger seat, i.e., whetheror not the steering wheel is turned to the left (Step S11). If Yes inStep S11, the process proceeds to Step S7. Then, as described above, thepop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and the right and left air bags 22Rand 22L are simultaneously deployed.

If No in Step S11, i.e., when it is determined that the steeringdirection is a direction toward the driver's seat (the steering wheel isturned to the right), the ECU 40 determines whether or not the steeringangle is not more than a predetermined threshold SA1 (Step S13). If Yesin Step S13, the process proceeds to Step S7. Then, as described above,the pop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and the right and left air bags22R and 22L are simultaneously deployed.

If No in Step S13, the ECU 40 determines whether or not the steeringangle is in a range of more than the threshold SA1 and not more than athreshold SA2 (SA2>SA1) (Step S15). If Yes in Step S15, the ECU 40operates the pop-up actuators 28, the left air bag 22L, and the rightair bag 22R in this order (Steps S17-S21). With this, the pop-up of thehood 4 is performed, and the left air bag 22L is deployed at a timing atwhich the pop-up is started. Slightly after this timing, the right airbag 22R is deployed. Thus, the flow chart ends.

In contrast, if No in Step S15, the ECU 40 operates the pop-up actuators28 and the left air bag 22L in this order (Steps S25 and S27). Withthis, the pop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and only the left air bag22L is deployed at a timing at which the pop-up is started. Thus, theflow chart ends.

To be specific, when the pedestrian has collided with the right side ofthe middle portion of the vehicle 1, and

the vehicle speed is higher than the threshold VR (Yes in Step S5),

the vehicle speed is not more than the threshold VR, and the steeringdirection is a direction toward the front passenger seat (Yes in StepS11), or

the vehicle speed is not more than the threshold VR, and the steeringdirection is a direction toward the driver's seat, and the steeringangle is not more than the threshold SA1 (Yes in Step S13),

it is estimated that the pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1substantially linearly moves from the collision position toward avehicle rear side and is received at a region RR (hereinafter referredto as a right region RR; see FIG. 10) located at the right side of themiddle portion of the vehicle 1. Therefore, the ECU 40 determines boththe air bags 22R and 22L (air bag devices 20R and 20L) as the operationtargets and simultaneously operates the right and left air bag devices20R and 20L (Steps S7 and S9). In this example, the right and left airbags 22R and 22L are simultaneously deployed. However, the right air bag22R may be deployed before the left air bag 22L is deployed.

In contrast, iv) when the steering direction is a direction toward thedriver's seat, and the steering angle is in a range of more than thethreshold SA1 and not more than the threshold SA2 (Yes in Step S15), itis estimated that the pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1 isreceived at a region RC (middle portion region RC) of the middle portionof the vehicle 1. Therefore, the ECU 40 determines both the air bags 22Rand 22L (air bag devices 20R and 20L) as the operation targets andoperates the left air bag device 20L and the right air bag device 20R inthis order (Steps S19 and S21). To be specific, in this case, it isestimated that the pedestrian is received by the air bags 22R and 22Lwhile relatively moving from the right side of the vehicle 1 toward themiddle portion of the vehicle 1. Therefore, to prevent the air bag atthe upper side from being lifted up when receiving the pedestrian, theoperations of the air bag devices 20R and 20L are controlled such that:the left air bag 22L is first deployed before the right air bag 22R isdeployed; and the tip end portion 26 of the right air bag 22R overlapsan upper side of the tip end portion 26 of the left air bag 22L.

Further, v) when the steering direction is a direction toward thedriver's seat, and the steering angle is larger than the threshold SA2(No in Step S15), it is estimated that the pedestrian who has collidedwith the vehicle 1 moves from the right side of the vehicle 1 to aregion RL (left region RL) located at the left side of the middleportion of the vehicle 1 and is received at the left region RL.Therefore, the ECU 40 determines only the left air bag 22L (left air bagdevice 20L) as the operation target and deploys only the left air bag22L (Step S27). By deploying the left air bag 22L as above, the functionof the pedestrian air bag device 20 which function is to receive thepedestrian by the air bag is achieved. In addition, the deployment ofthe right air bag 22R is prohibited, and with this, the field of view ofa driver is secured, and for example, the vehicle can be safely stopped.

In contrast, if No in Step S3, to be specific, when it is determinedthat the pedestrian collision position is located at the front passengerseat side (at the left side of the vehicle middle portion), the ECU 40determines whether or not the vehicle speed is higher than apredetermined threshold VL (Step S29).

When it is determined that the vehicle speed is higher than thethreshold VL, the ECU 40 operates the pop-up actuators 28 and the leftair bag 22L in this order (Steps S31 and S33). With this, the pop-up ofthe hood 4 is performed, and only the left air bag 22L is deployed at atiming at which the pop-up is started. Thus, the flow chart ends.

In contrast, if No in Step S29, the ECU 40 determines whether or not thesteering direction is a direction toward the driver's seat, i.e.,whether or not the steering wheel is turned to the right (Step S35). IfYes in Step S35, the process proceeds to Step S31. Then, as describedabove, the pop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and only the left air bag22L is deployed.

If No in Step S35, to be specific, when it is determined that thesteering direction is a direction toward the front passenger seat (thesteering wheel is turned to the left), the ECU 40 determines whether ornot the steering angle is not more than a predetermined threshold SB1(Step S37). If Yes in Step S37, the process proceeds to Step S31. Thus,the pop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and only the left air bag 22L isdeployed.

In contrast, if No in Step S37, the ECU 40 operates the pop-up actuators28, the right air bag 22R, and the left air bag 22L in this order (StepsS39-S43). With this, the pop-up of the hood 4 is performed, and theright air bag 22R is deployed at a timing at which the pop-up isstarted. Slightly after this timing, the left air bag 22L is deployed.Thus, the flow chart ends.

To be specific, when the pedestrian has collided with the left side ofthe middle portion of the vehicle 1, and

vi) the vehicle speed is higher than the threshold VL (Yes in Step S29),

vii) the vehicle speed is not more than the threshold VL, and thesteering direction is a direction toward the driver's seat (Yes in StepS35), or

viii) the steering direction is a direction toward the front passengerseat, and the steering angle is not more than the threshold SB1 (Yes inStep S37),

it is estimated that the pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1substantially linearly moves from the collision position toward thevehicle rear side and is received at the left region RL (see FIG. 10) ofthe vehicle 1. Therefore, the ECU 40 determines only the left air bag22L (left air bag device 20L) as the operation target and deploys onlythe left air bag 22L (Step S27). By deploying only the left air bag 22Las above, as with the control (Steps S25 and S27) described in the aboveitem v), the function of the pedestrian air bag device 20 which functionis to receive the pedestrian by the air bag is achieved. In addition,the deployment of the right air bag 22R is prohibited, and with this,the field of view of the driver is secured, and the vehicle can besafely stopped.

In contrast, ix) when the vehicle speed is not more than the thresholdVL, and the steering direction is a direction toward the front passengerseat, and the steering angle is larger than the threshold SB1 (No inStep S37), it is estimated that the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle 1 is received at the middle portion region RC or the rightregion RR. Therefore, the ECU 40 determines both the air bags 22R and22L (air bag devices 20R and 20L) as the operation targets and operatesthe right air bag device 20R and the left air bag device 20L in thisorder (Steps S41 and S43). To be specific, in this case, it is estimatedthat the pedestrian is received by the air bags 22R and 22L whilerelatively moving from the left side of the vehicle 1 toward the middleportion of the vehicle 1 or toward the right side of the vehicle 1.Therefore, to prevent the air bag at the upper side from being lifted upwhen receiving the pedestrian, the operations of the air bag devices 20Rand 20L are controlled such that: the right air bag 22R is deployedbefore the left air bag 22L is deployed; and the tip end portion 26 ofthe left air bag 22L overlaps an upper side of the tip end portion 26 ofthe right air bag 22R.

Operational Advantages

According to the vehicle 1, when the detection signals are input fromthe G sensors 30 a-30 d to the ECU 40, and with this, the collision ofthe vehicle 1 with the pedestrian is detected, the pop-up actuators 28and the air bag devices 20R and 20L operate. With this, the air bags 22Rand 22L are deployed from between the hood 4 and the cowl portion 10toward the windshield 6. When the air bags 22R and 22L are deployed, thetip end portions 26 of the air bag base portions 24 a overlap each otherat the vehicle width direction middle portion of the vehicle 1, and withthis, a gap is prevented from being formed between the right and leftair bags 22R and 22L. Therefore, the pedestrian is effectively preventedfrom getting into the gap between the right and left air bags 22R and22L.

In addition, when it is estimated that the pedestrian collision positionis located at an outer side (the right side or the left side) of themiddle portion of the vehicle 1 in the vehicle width direction, and aposition at which the vehicle 1 is likely to receive the pedestrian isthe middle portion region RC (Yes in Step S17 or No in Step S37), theECU 40 controls the operations of the air bag devices 20R and 20L suchthat the air bag located closer to the pedestrian collision positionoverlap the upper side of the air bag located farther from thepedestrian collision position. Specifically, when the pedestriancollision position is located at the right side of the middle portion ofthe vehicle 1, the ECU 40 controls the operations of the air bag devices20R and 20L such that the left air bag 22L is deployed before the rightair bag 22R is deployed (Steps S17-S21). When the collision position islocated at the left side of the middle portion of the vehicle 1, the ECU40 controls the operations of the air bag devices 20R and 20L such thatthe deployment of the right air bag 22R is completed before thedeployment of the left air bag 22L is completed (Steps S39-S43). To bespecific, a time difference deployment control operation of thepedestrian air bag device 20 (the right air bag device 20R and the leftair bag device 20L) is executed. Therefore, the air bag located at theupper side when receiving the pedestrian is hardly lifted up, and thus,the pedestrian can be more surely received by the air bags. On thisaccount, there is an advantage that the pedestrian impact absorptionperformance improves.

Especially, in the above vehicle 1, as described above, based on thevehicle speed and the steering angle of the steering wheel, the ECU 40estimates a position at which the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle 1 is received. Therefore, the reliability of the estimation ofthe position is high, and the above-described time difference deploymentcontrol operation of the pedestrian air bag device 20 (the right air bagdevice 20R and the left air bag device 20L) can be satisfactorilyexecuted. To be specific, when the vehicle speed is high, the movementdirection of the pedestrian after the collision tends to depend on thevehicle speed. When the vehicle speed is low, the movement direction ofthe pedestrian after the collision tends to depend on the steering angleand steering direction of the steering wheel. Therefore, as in the aboveembodiment, according to the configuration in which the position atwhich the pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1 is received isestimated based on the vehicle speed and the steering angle of thesteering wheel, the movement direction of the pedestrian after thecollision can be accurately estimated, and the air bag devices 20R and20L can be appropriately operated. In this example, a speed range higherthan the threshold VR or VL corresponds to a predetermined high speedrange of the present invention, and a speed range equal to or lower thanthe threshold VR or VL corresponds to a predetermined low speed range ofthe present invention.

Further, according to the vehicle 1, when it is estimated that thepedestrian who has collided with the vehicle 1 is received at the leftregion RL of the vehicle 1 (No in Step S15 or Yes in Step S29, S35, orS37), as described above, the function of the pedestrian air bag device20 which function is to receive the pedestrian by the air bag isachieved by deploying only the left air bag 22L, and in addition, thefield of view of the driver is secured, and the vehicle can be safelystopped. On this account, according to the vehicle 1, there is anadvantage that while protecting the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle 1, the safety of the vehicle 1 can be secured i.e., secondarycollision in which the vehicle 1 collides with an object can be avoided.

Further, according to the vehicle 1, each of the tip end portions 26 ofthe right and left air bags 22R and 22L (air bag base portions 24 a) hasa tapered shape that gradually decreases in thickness uniformly withrespect to the center line O extending through the thickness directioncenter. Therefore, in both cases where the right air bag is located atthe upper side and where the left air bag is located at the upper side,the tip end portions of the air bags can satisfactorily overlap eachother without problems. Therefore, when executing the above timedifference deployment control operation, the pedestrian impactabsorption performance can be satisfactorily achieved.

According to the vehicle 1, the pop-up actuators 28 operate, and thepedestrian air bag device 20 (air bag devices 20R and 20L) operates at atiming at which the pop-up of the hood 4 is started. Therefore, withthis, there is an advantage that the air bags 22R and 22L can bedeployed as quickly as possible while assisting the pop-up of the hood 4by the deployments of the air bags 22R and 22L.

Others, Modified Examples, Etc.

The vehicle 1 is an example of a preferred embodiment of the vehicle 1to which the pedestrian protecting device according to the presentinvention is applied. A specific configuration of the vehicle 1 may besuitably changed within the scope of the present invention. For example,the following configurations may be adopted.

(1) The vehicle 1 of the above embodiment is a right-hand drive vehicle.However, the present invention is also applicable to a left-hand drivevehicle. In this case, the air bag devices 20R and 20L are controlledbased on a flow chart which corresponds to the flow chart of FIGS. 8 and9 but in which left and right are reversed, i.e., the driver's seat sideand the front passenger seat side are reversed. With this, the left-handdrive vehicle 1 can obtain the same operational advantages as theright-hand drive vehicle 1.

(2) In the above embodiment, the air bag devices 20R and 20L arearranged at the rear surface of the hood 4. However, the air bag devices20R and 20L may be arranged at the cowl portion 10. Or, one of the airbag devices 20R and 20L may be arranged at the rear surface of the hood4, and the other of the air bag devices 20R and 20L may be arranged atthe cowl portion 10. Further, the air bag devices 20R and 20L may bearranged at the rear surface of the hood 4, and the air bags 22R and 22Lmay be deployed through opening portions formed at the rear end portion4 a of the hood 4.

(3) In the above embodiment, the G sensors 30 a-30 d are used as thecollision position detector of the present invention configured todetect the pedestrian collision position of the vehicle 1 in the vehiclewidth direction. However, a collision position detector other than the Gsensors 30 a-30 d may be used. For example, the pedestrian collisionposition may be detected by further using an on-vehicle camera 36 (seeFIG. 7) as the collision position detector. It should be noted that forexample, a technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2007-69806 can be used as a technology of detecting thepedestrian collision position by using the on-vehicle camera as above.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS LIST

-   -   1 vehicle    -   4 hood    -   5 6 windshield    -   10 cowl portion    -   11 12 cowl grill    -   20 pedestrian air bag device    -   21 20R right air bag device    -   20L left air bag device    -   22R right air bag    -   22L left air bag    -   24 a air bag base portion    -   24 b air bag side portion    -   26 tip end portion    -   27 30 a-30 d G sensor (collision position detector)    -   32 vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detector)    -   33 34 steering angle sensor (steering angle detector)    -   40 ECU (controller)

1. A pedestrian protecting device mounted on a vehicle, the vehicleincluding a windshield and a hood, the hood being located in front ofthe windshield and covering an engine, the pedestrian protecting devicecomprising: a right air bag device including a right air bag configuredto be deployed at a region spreading from a rear end portion of the hoodto the windshield and located mainly at a right side of the vehicle; aleft air bag device including a left air bag configured to be deployedat a region spreading from the rear end portion of the hood to thewindshield and located mainly at a left side of the vehicle; a collisionposition detector configured to detect a pedestrian collision positionof the vehicle in a vehicle width direction; a vehicle speed detectorconfigured to detect a vehicle speed of the vehicle; a steering angledetector configured to detect a steering angle and steering direction ofa steering wheel of the vehicle; and a controller configured to controloperations of the air bags, wherein: based on detection results of thedetectors, the controller estimates a movement direction of a pedestrianwho has collided with the vehicle; based on a result of this estimation,the controller determines an operation target from the right air bagdevice and the left air bag device and an operation timing of theoperation target; and based on a result of this determination, thecontroller controls operations of the air bags.
 2. The pedestrianprotecting device according to claim 1, wherein: when the vehicle speedfalls within a predetermined high speed range, the controller determinesthe operation target and the operation timing based on the vehiclespeed; and when the vehicle speed falls within a predetermined low speedrange, the controller determines the operation target and the operationtiming based on the steering angle and steering direction of thesteering wheel.
 3. The pedestrian protecting device according to claim1, wherein: the right and left air bags include respective tip endportions which vertically overlap each other at a middle portion of thevehicle in the vehicle width direction when the right and left air bagsare deployed; when the controller estimates that the pedestrian who hascollided with the vehicle moves toward the middle portion of the vehiclefrom a position located at a left side of the middle portion of thevehicle in the vehicle width direction, the controller determines boththe right and left air bag devices as the operation targets and alsodetermines the operation timings of the air bag devices such that adeployment of the right air bag is completed before a deployment of theleft air bag is completed; and when the controller estimates that thepedestrian moves toward the middle portion of the vehicle from aposition located at a right side of the middle portion of the vehicle,the controller determines both the right and left air bag devices as theoperation targets and also determines the operation timings of the airbag devices such that the deployment of the left air bag is completedbefore the deployment of the right air bag is completed.
 4. Thepedestrian protecting device according to claim 1, wherein: thecontroller estimates a vehicle width direction position at which thevehicle is likely to receive the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle; and when the estimated position is located at a front passengerseat side, the controller determines as the operation target only theair bag device located at the front passenger seat side out of the rightand left air bag devices.
 5. The pedestrian protecting device accordingto claim 1, wherein: the vehicle includes an on-vehicle cameraconfigured to take an image of a scene located in front of the vehicle;and the controller determines the operation target and the operationtiming based on the detection results of the detectors and the image ofthe pedestrian taken by the on-vehicle camera.
 6. The pedestrianprotecting device according to claim 2, wherein: the right and left airbags include respective tip end portions which vertically overlap eachother at a middle portion of the vehicle in the vehicle width directionwhen the right and left air bags are deployed; when the controllerestimates that the pedestrian who has collided with the vehicle movestoward the middle portion of the vehicle from a position located at aleft side of the middle portion of the vehicle in the vehicle widthdirection, the controller determines both the right and left air bagdevices as the operation targets and also determines the operationtimings of the air bag devices such that a deployment of the right airbag is completed before a deployment of the left air bag is completed;and when the controller estimates that the pedestrian moves toward themiddle portion of the vehicle from a position located at a right side ofthe middle portion of the vehicle, the controller determines both theright and left air bag devices as the operation targets and alsodetermines the operation timings of the air bag devices such that thedeployment of the left air bag is completed before the deployment of theright air bag is completed.
 7. The pedestrian protecting deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein: the controller estimates a vehicle widthdirection position at which the vehicle is likely to receive thepedestrian who has collided with the vehicle; and when the estimatedposition is located at a front passenger seat side, the controllerdetermines as the operation target only the air bag device located atthe front passenger seat side out of the right and left air bag devices.8. The pedestrian protecting device according to claim 3, wherein: thecontroller estimates a vehicle width direction position at which thevehicle is likely to receive the pedestrian who has collided with thevehicle; and when the estimated position is located at a front passengerseat side, the controller determines as the operation target only theair bag device located at the front passenger seat side out of the rightand left air bag devices.
 9. The pedestrian protecting device accordingto claim 6, wherein: the controller estimates a vehicle width directionposition at which the vehicle is likely to receive the pedestrian whohas collided with the vehicle; and when the estimated position islocated at a front passenger seat side, the controller determines as theoperation target only the air bag device located at the front passengerseat side out of the right and left air bag devices.
 10. The pedestrianprotecting device according to claim 2, wherein: the vehicle includes anon-vehicle camera configured to take an image of a scene located infront of the vehicle; and the controller determines the operation targetand the operation timing based on the detection results of the detectorsand the image of the pedestrian taken by the on-vehicle camera.
 11. Thepedestrian protecting device according to claim 3, wherein: the vehicleincludes an on-vehicle camera configured to take an image of a scenelocated in front of the vehicle; and the controller determines theoperation target and the operation timing based on the detection resultsof the detectors and the image of the pedestrian taken by the on-vehiclecamera.
 12. The pedestrian protecting device according to claim 4,wherein: the vehicle includes an on-vehicle camera configured to take animage of a scene located in front of the vehicle; and the controllerdetermines the operation target and the operation timing based on thedetection results of the detectors and the image of the pedestrian takenby the on-vehicle camera.
 13. The pedestrian protecting device accordingto claim 6, wherein: the vehicle includes an on-vehicle cameraconfigured to take an image of a scene located in front of the vehicle;and the controller determines the operation target and the operationtiming based on the detection results of the detectors and the image ofthe pedestrian taken by the on-vehicle camera.
 14. The pedestrianprotecting device according to claim 7, wherein: the vehicle includes anon-vehicle camera configured to take an image of a scene located infront of the vehicle; and the controller determines the operation targetand the operation timing based on the detection results of the detectorsand the image of the pedestrian taken by the on-vehicle camera.
 15. Thepedestrian protecting device according to claim 8, wherein: the vehicleincludes an on-vehicle camera configured to take an image of a scenelocated in front of the vehicle; and the controller determines theoperation target and the operation timing based on the detection resultsof the detectors and the image of the pedestrian taken by the on-vehiclecamera.
 16. The pedestrian protecting device according to claim 9,wherein: the vehicle includes an on-vehicle camera configured to take animage of a scene located in front of the vehicle; and the controllerdetermines the operation target and the operation timing based on thedetection results of the detectors and the image of the pedestrian takenby the on-vehicle camera.